FOXBOROUGH, Mass.
There won’t be a Tom Brady vs. Peyton Manning XVII during this NFL postseason, maybe not ever if the speculation that Manning could retire this offseason is on target.
Brady vs. Manning for a Super Bowl berth is so 2014.
It’s on to Brady vs. Andrew Luck.
The fortunes of Brady and Manning, the two greatest quarterbacks of their generation and dual contenders in the debate about which quarterback is the best in NFL history, diverged sharply over the weekend.
Brady moved past Joe Montana as the NFL’s career leader in postseason touchdown passes as he and the New England Patriots beat the Baltimore Ravens, 35-31, here Saturday. The Patriots will host Luck and the Indianapolis Colts this coming Sunday at Gillette Stadium in their ninth AFC championship game appearance with Brady as their quarterback and Bill Belichick as their coach.
Manning and the Denver Broncos will be conspicuously absent next weekend in Foxborough, Massachusetts. A season that had a Super Bowl victory-or-bust feel to it for the Broncos went bust Sunday. Manning lost to Luck, the quarterback who took his job in Indianapolis, for the ninth one-and-done playoff exit of his NFL career.
Manning had his struggles in the second half of the regular season, throwing 12 interceptions in an eight-game span prior to the regular season finale, and he was ineffective in Sunday’s 24-13 defeat to the Colts. Manning had a passer rating of 75.5 in a 26-for-46, 211-yard, one-touchdown performance.
He turns 39 in March. He had four touchdown passes and six interceptions in his last five games of the season, including Sunday.
Manning previously said he plans to play next season, when he is due a salary of $19 million. But he was less committal following the game Sunday.
“That’s kind of what I’ve said all along,” Manning said in his postgame interview with Denver radio station KOA, according to the Denver Post. “But I can’t answer every what-if circumstance. What if you’re not as healthy? What if certain coaches leave? I can’t answer every what-if situation. I think I’ll have to take some time to see how I feel, see how I feel physically.”
The question of Manning’s NFL future was raised on the CBS telecast even before the game ended Sunday. Opinions on the topic were everywhere as the night progressed.
“There will be as many questions about Peyton if he plays next season as there were in 2012 when he was coming back from the neck surgeries,” former agent Joel Corry wrote on Twitter.
Former NFL executive Andrew Brandt wrote on Twitter: “Just my sense, but do not see Peyton retiring, nor Denver ‘retiring’ him even with $19 million number for 2015.”
It is easy to make a case that Manning is the greatest regular season quarterback in NFL history. He has been named the league’s MVP a record five times. He became the NFL’s career leader in touchdown passes this season. He set single-season league records for passing yards and touchdown passes last season.
But it is tougher to make the case that he is the greatest quarterback ever, without any qualifier. His career postseason record dropped Sunday to 11-13. He has one career Super Bowl triumph.
The Broncos, after losing last season’s Super Bowl in lopsided fashion to the Seattle Seahawks, made a push to help Manning to his second career Super Bowl victory this season when they upgraded their defense in the offseason by signing defensive end DeMarcus Ware, cornerback Aqib Talib and safety T.J. Ward. They also added wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders.
It didn’t work. Manning remains stuck on one Super Bowl win. He couldn’t beat Brady during their regular season meeting in November in Foxborough, dropping his career record against Brady to 5-11. Now he’s headed into the unknown while Brady continues to chase what would be a fourth career Super Bowl victory in tandem with Belichick.
